General News
28 May, 2025
Captain fires up over levy
IN the wake of farmers and firefighters staging protests on Tuesday against the State Government’s new Emergency Services Levy, Avoca Fire Brigade Captain Aaron McHoul has expressed concerned about the impact it will have in his community.
Mr McHoul had been taking in national radio coverage of Tuesday’s rally and while he was delighted to see people speaking up for what they believe in, he was unsure about whether the demonstration was a game changer.
“At this stage I don’t think the Government will listen,” said Mr McHoul.
“I think Ms Allan needs to pull her head out of the clouds and have a look at what’s happening in the real world.”
Mr McHoul said he’s had countless conversations with people in the community who were all outraged with Labor’s new tax.
“Basically, they’re robbing Peter to pay Paul in the sense of they don’t mind taking it from the country and unfortunately, we’re not seeing much in return.”
“We’ve got people donating their time and now they’re gonna get slugged for this new fire levy as they’re calling it.”
The Country Fire Authority Captain didn’t mince his words when sharing his thoughts about Labor’s real motives behind the additional tax.
“All they’re really doing is getting the money in to pay off debt,” said Mr McHoul, “That’s all it is.”
“What they tell you and what they actually do are two totally different things.”
Mr McHoul lamented the impact the new levy is having on the CFA, plainly describing the knock-on effects.
“I can see the CFA losing a lot of members over this and it’s not the CFA’s doing, it’s the Government’s doing.”
“There’s a few brigades that have just closed up shop.”
Despite heightened emotions around the Emergency services levy, Mr McHoul reaffirmed his commitment to serving the community, explaining that taking the Avoca brigade offline in protest wasn’t an option.
“We put one truck offline and left our tanker and pumper online just because if there was a housefire or something diabolical, we’d respond.”
Mr McHoul was adamant that community loyalty has its limits and that the Government needs to understand rural communities can only be pushed so far.
“Basically, if it came to a bushfire or anything like that, a lot of our members said they (the State Government) can put it in their back pocket.”
Read More: Avoca